My name is Korin, the owner and creator behind Luna Amatores, based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. I love exploring new places and long walks in the woods (anywhere in the Lake District or Yorkshire, those are my favourite spots!) with my husband, Lewis, and dog, Freya.

I grew up crystal & nature obsessed, I remember my first ever crystal was a little onyx tumblestone gifted to me by my nan. During my childhood we moved around a lot due to my parents work, which led us to Germany where I went to middle school and developed my love for crystals even more when a small group of us started up a lunchtime crystal group with one of the teachers! We learned about the different properties of crystals which I’ve developed my own beliefs and knowledge on over time (I’ve had the same copy of Judy Hall’s Crystal Bible since 2005 and I still often refer to it!). There was also a beautiful shop in the town that we lived in that sold crystals. Around Christmas time, the owner used to let us pick a crystal each to keep, which was just lovely and will be a memory I’ll forever cherish! That same shop is where I discovered crystal chip necklaces & bracelets and I collected a few different types over time. As these started breaking due to wear, I started piecing them back together and creating my own chip bracelets (I also handed them out to friends!). This eventually led to making necklaces with various charms and crystal pendants that I could share with my friends. I put that on pause when we moved back to England, but kept up with the crystal collecting. Eventually (about 5 years later) I decided to start creating jewellery for myself again but wanted to be able to design every aspect of it rather than just popping charms and ready-made pendants on chains. That is when I developed the method I currently use to create jewellery which is called electroforming. That’s when Luna Amatores was properly born. I decided on the name because it is the rough Latin translation for “moon lovers”, which fits me perfectly!

I soon discovered that there didn’t seem to be a huge range of crystals in the UK to make unique jewellery with, every shop seemed to stock the same things! So I decided to look for companies overseas to work with. This very quickly led to me hoarding more beautiful display pieces for myself whilst looking for jewellery sized pieces to create with, as well as being able to share lots of crystal goodies that can’t be found in the UK, with you! I now work with so many wonderful businesses, from carvers to family run mining businesses across the whole world! I’ve met so many wonderful people through Luna Amatores and have made lots of friends for life that I would never have met before!

In October 2021 I decided to take the plunge and go full time with Luna Amatores after being a delivery driver for 8 years. It’s not been very long since I made that decision, but so far so good! I’m really enjoying having evenings and weekends back to spend time with family, doing things I enjoy and generally looking after myself. If you’re hoping to learn an important life lesson today… let it be to always remember to make time for yourself!

Towards the end of 2021 it became very clear that I needed to expand out of the office at home and into a new space, so I started looking at potential spaces. I was initially just looking for a bigger office or warehouse space but I did consider a few shop fronts too as so many local customers had mentioned that Carlisle needs a metaphysical shop. However I decided a space where I can let people in by appointment would work best so that I can continue creating new jewellery and running the online sales side of the business. In January 2022 I signed the lease for the two rooms at Fisher Street Galleries.

Very quickly the business outgrew those two rooms and within 9 months I’d signed the lease for the larger unit I’m currently in on Castle Street in Carlisle. This is a full time shop with regular opening hours rather than being appointment based. The unit is big enough to house the shop alongside a jewellery creating workshop and plenty of storage space so I can keep up with website work whilst running the in-person shop and getting creative with lot’s of new jewellery!

I’m really excited to see what the future holds for Luna Amatores!